Once again, my hopes were in vain. There hasn’t been any major rock deaths since the passing of Jeff Beck in January, so I was hoping that we might get a reprieve. Fat chance! Last night, the final original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, guitarist Gary Rossington, passed away aged 71. Gary had a super career, not only with Skynyrd but with the band Rossington/Collins in the early 1980s. He was a phenomenal guitarist and he along with fellow guitarist Allen Collins provided one of the greatest long time jams in “Freebird.” Lynyrd Skynyrd were also crucial in forming the genre known as Southern Rock. FFI: click the link.
This song was written after Gary hit a tree with his car.
Gary’s passing marks the end of an era. While, Lynyrd Skynyrd will probably continue on with Johnny Van Zant and Rickey Medlocke leading the way, all the original members are now playing together in a better place.
Rest in peace Gary, the Freebird will forever fly on!
Unfortunately, I am not ready to post the intended next post which was Paul Di’Anno’s Battlezone “Best of” album. Owing to a busy week and the fact that the album is seventeen songs long, I wasn’t able to give the number of listens I give an album before I go to post. Instead, I thought I would treat you to an Original vs. Cover post but I am adding an extra cover. The song in question is the Thin Lizzy classic, “The Boys are Back in Town.” Will either cover be better than the original? And which of the two covers is the better one? Have a listen and judge for yourself.
Thin Lizzy
I can still remember back in 1977 this song blasting through my AM radio. I rocked to it then and more than 45 years later, it still rocks. There’s not much more about this classic which hasn’t already been said.
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi’s cover of the song was known to me via the “Make A Difference” compilation album. For those not in the know, the album featured artists covering songs from ones who left the mortal plain. I did find Ozzy’s rendition of “Purple Haze” quite interesting. Anyway, Bon Jovi covered the Thin Lizzy classic.
Briar
While they never became a household name like Thin Lizzy or Bon Jovi, English metal band, Briar, covered the song on their 1988 “Crown of Thorns” album.
My Verdict:
The original wins this one hands down. For a song to be so well known after so many years says a lot about the band which recorded it. This song was a crowning achievement for Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy. As for the covers, my opinion on that score hasn’t changed. Briar wins out easily. Their hunger to make it big is reflecting in the way they record the song and I do like the echoing guitars as the song makes its exit. It was also good to give Phil a shout out at the beginning.
Have a listen to all three and let me know your thoughts. Remember dissent is always welcome on 80smetalman.
Next post: Paul DiAnno’s Battlezone- Warchild, The Best of
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
It looks like 2023 is going to suck for sure. Last night, guitarist extraordinaire, Jeff Beck, passed away in hospital in Southern England from Meningitis. He was 78. Beck’s music spanned many decades and you can click the link below to read about his amazing life in music. While I have always known him to be a fantastic guitarist, his appearances on 80smetalman featured his 1985 album, “Flash” and his appearance on Rod Stewart’s 1984 album where in the video for the song, “Infatuation,” he pops up in a hotel room to play his guitar solo. Of course, according to the most famous roadie, Del Preston, in “Wayne’s World 2,” Jeff found a sweet shop so Ozzy could fill a brandy glass with brown M&Ms.
It is my sad duty to announce the passing of Fleetwood Mac keyboardist and singer, Christine McVie who has died today following a short illness. She was married to bassist John McVie and played on the classic albums “Rumours” and “Tusk” as well as other Fleetwood Mac albums. Her contributions to those albums were phenomenal and I am sure she will be sorely missed.
It is my sad duty to post the passing of Dan McCafferty. Dan was the lead singer in the Scottish hard rock band, Nazareth, who were well known throughout the 1970s. The irony is that when I wrote my chapter “Tee-Bone Man and Superdekes’ Time Travelling Adventure,” I stated that when those in Rock and Roll Heaven decided to create heavy metal, the album “Hair of the Dog” was used as a blueprint. I still and always will believe that. The album also spawned Nazareth’s best known song, “Love Hurts.”
When I wrote “Tee-Bone Man and Superdeke’s Time Travelling Adventure” for Mike Ladano’s blog, the biggest challenge in discipline for me was not to get totally carried away with all the possible collaborations between musicians who have left us. It doesn’t take too much smarts to realize that the possibilities are endless and I could have filled many pages with them and that’s just the ones I would like to see!
Lemmy
First, I am quite convinced that every deceased musician would love to sing or play with the King, Elvis and that includes Lemmy. It would be an interesting song, that part’s for sure. Of course Lemmy wouldn’t be left out as many would like to get him to play bass on their song or sing with them and I’m not just talking about metal musicians. Why couldn’t he lay down a bass line for Jim Morrison or Janis Joplin? Then we can take it to the complete other extreme and have Lemmy do a song with Whitney Houston. Why not?
One combination I mention in the story would almost certainly happen. I firmly believe that Ronnie James Dio would have hooked up with former bandmates from Rainbow and the connection of that band to Deep Purple and Black Sabbath and formed a band with Jimmy Bain on bass, Jon Lord on keyboards and Cozy Powell on drums. Furthermore, I stand by my choice for guitar in the group as I strongly feel that Criss Oliva of Savatage fame would be the best fit for the above combo. Of course, you are all welcome to put forward alternatives.
The Fab Four
The Who
One combination which I thought of putting into the story but didn’t was a collaboration of the two deceased Beatles and two deceased members of The Who. John Lennon and George Harrison on guitars, John Entwistle on bass and Keith Moon on drums might be something to hear. We can even make it more interesting by throwing in the two deceased members of The Rolling Stones. Then again, we can get Brian Jones and Charlie Watts to play along with the two dead Doors! Like I said, the possibilities are endless!
The teacher in me has now taken over and so, here’s your assignment. Put together your own bands, duets or collaborations of deceased musicians and post them here! There are no right or wrong answers. Maybe the Righteous Brothers song I featured last week can motivate. After all, they have a point: “If there’s a rock and roll heaven, you know they’ve got a hell of a band.”
Special thanks goes out to 2loud for this album. If he hadn’t written a post on “Gems,” I most likely still wouldn’t have heard of it. I blame it on the fact that by November, 1988, I was settling into family life in the UK, with my first born very much on the way. Therefore, I couldn’t give music my full or even half full attention. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it. Of course, the other reason why it passed me by was that “Gems” is a compilation album put forward by Aerosmith’s old label, Columbia Records who still could make a few bucks out of the band and my trips to record stores by then were almost non existent, so unless it was a big album, it most certainly passed me by.
The saying ‘better late than never’ applies to this as I am glad that, inspired by 2loud’s post, I sat down and listened to it and boy was I impressed! As you know, I always site hidden gems on any album I write about and here we have an entire album full of them. What is more, I can’t help thinking that the tracks were cleaned up a bit before being put on the album. Take “No Surprise” for instance. It comes from the “Night in the Ruts” album which I have always considered to be a total dirge. However, on “Gems,” it sounds really clear and now I fully appreciate the track much more than on the original album. Even the two tracks from my all time favourite ‘Smith album, “Toys in the Attic,” seem to sound better and that’s a feat in itself. Here’s another paradox which is me, “Round and Round” is the penultimate track on my favourite album but I don’t mind the fact that it’s not picked for the job on “Gems.”
I think what “Gems” achieves is showcase how great Aerosmith’s songs can be once you get past the hits. None of the songs from the 1980 “Greatest Hits” album are on this album and that’s a good thing. In addition, you get a lot of the songs from the earlier albums, when the band was still hungry and they hadn’t made the transition from musicians dabbling in drugs to druggies dabbling in music. “Mama Kin” is the best example of this. I forgot how great those opening riffs are. However, even the songs from the albums after the transition sound really great. “No Surprise” has already been mentioned but there seems to be a different swagger to “Jailbait” off “Rock in a Hard Place.”
One song, “Chip Away the Stone” from the “Live Bootleg” album is included in the tracks, so Columbia Records didn’t leave any stone unturned when looking for the gems. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, they chose all the right tracks for “Gems.” While this album was most likely meant for the hardcore Aerosmith fans, I think casual fans would appreciate it too.
Track Listing:
Rats in the Cellar
Lick and a Promise
Chip Away the Stone
No Surprise
Mama Kin
Adam’s Apple
Nobody’s Fault
Round and Round
Critical Mass
Lord of the Thighs
Jailbait
Train Kept a Rollin’
Aerosmith
Steve Tyler- vocals, harmonica, piano
Joe Perry- lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Brad Whitford- rhythm and lead guitar
Tom Hamilton- bass
Joey Kramer- drums, percussion
Additional Musicians:
Jimmy Crespo- lead guitar on “Jailbait”
Rick Dufay- rhythm guitar on “Jailbait”
David Woodford- saxophone
Richard Supa- piano
Mark Radice- piano on “Chip Away the Stone”
My thanks once again goes out to 2loud for turning me on to a great album. “Gems” is definitely that, full of great but not overplayed Aerosmith classics. I can’t recall them playing any of these at Download 2017 but no matter, I got this great album.
Next post: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts- Up Your Alley
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmail.com
My excuse of being in Britain at the time is why I am posting Rush’s 1987, “Hold Your Fire,” album for 1988. I didn’t hear about this album until 1988, although I might have heard about it sooner if I hadn’t lost touch with two UK friends who are big Rush fans. Oh, I see both of them on Facebook now and they will probably both put in their two penneth on this post.
Reading a little history, I am rather perplexed as to why some ‘critics’ said that synthesizers were overused. The two Rush albums previous to “Hold Your Fire” were more synth pop in my not so humble opinion. If anything, I think this album was made ten years too late. It would have been right at home among all the great progressive rock bands from the 1970s as I find this a great offering of some cool progressive rock. Okay, there aren’t the power chords of some of the more hard rock Rush albums but Alex’s guitar is plain to hear. He does some good riffs, take “Time Stand Still” for instance but the one thing which comes to my mind on “Time Stands Still” is Geddy Lee. We all know his singing and songwriting capabilities and many will praise his keyboards skills, I do. What only Rush fans realize is that Geddy plays bass and his skills on that instrument seemed to be forgotten. Not me, Geddy, nor any dedicated Rush fans but I do like his bass line on this track and on “Open Secrets.” Oh yes, I better mention that til Tuesday singer and bassist Aimee Mann lends her voice to the track and it works very well.
The entire album is one cool progressive rock jam. Even though the intro of the opener, “Force Ten,” wouldn’t have sounded out of place on a metal album, the prog rock shines through and continues on. However, there is a standout track and that happens to be “Prime Mover.” The guitar on the intro is one of those which has me fist pumping the air. Hell, turn up the guitar and you have a great metal song. Again, Lee’s not talked about much bass playing is just as prominent on the song. Like so many Rush fans, I always knew he could lay down a cool bassline. Furthermore, the song has a catchy melody which sounds like typical Rush and Geddy unleashes his skills on the keyboards here. Now some of you are probably asking, “What about Neil?” Well, he does what he always does and pounds the skins very well. Though there are some interesting drum fills on “Prime Mover.”
If I had to pick a track which could be called ‘filler,’ it would have to be “Tai Shan.” It’s an attempt, Alex used that exact word in a 2012 interview with “Total Guitar” to experiment using classical Chinese music. He also called the song, ‘corny.’ I wouldn’t go that far and I don’t think it’s a bad song, it’s just not as good as the other nine. Speaking of Alex, I just wish he soloed more on the album, that’s all. His only solos come on “Mission,” “Turn the Page” and the closer, “High Water.” The solos are quite good but it’s Neil’s drumming that really shines through on “Mission.
Track Listing:
Force Ten
Time Stands Still
Open Secrets
Second Nature
Prime Mover
Lock and Key
Mission
Turn the Page
Tai Shan
High Water
Rush
Geddy Lee- lead vocals, bass, synthesizer
Alex Liefson- guitar
Neil Peart- drums, percussion
Additional Musicians:
Aimee Mann- accompanying lead vocals on “Time Stand Still,” backing vocals on “Tai Shan,” “Primer Mover” and “Open Secrets”
Andy Richards- additional keyboards, synthesizer programming
I am with those in the cult status who regard “Hold Your Fire” with great esteem. I much prefer this to their previous two albums but like I said at the beginning, it might have been more accepted if it had come out ten years earlier.
Next post: Van Halen- OU812
To buy Rock and Roll Children, email me at: tobychainsaw@hotmal.com
After all of the great feedback and all the fun I had writing a joint post with 2loud2old, I would be happy to write joint posts with many of you in the future. It doesn’t even have to be two person post adventure and I’m sure many of us here could put our heads together and write a joint post. Posts could be ranking a band’s albums, ranking musicians or anything really, the sky’s the limit!
The only issue is that I would like to keep these type of posts spaced out as I am totally committed to the tour of heavy metal’s golden decade. Actually, I’m closer to the end as I am now well into 1988 and there’s only 89 left. However, it was never my intention that when I posted the final album of 1989, to end 80smetalman. You don’t get rid of me that easy! While I might cut down the frequency of the posts after that, I would still be open to ideas and joint posts would be one of them. Although, we could still write some along the way.
One point which I must absolutely insist on is that any joint post involving Savatage, Mike has to be included. He’s a big Tage fan as much as I am. Other than that, the sky is the limit.
I did something stupid yesterday. I had CD1 of the above three CD compilation album in my car, listening to it on my way to and from work. When I got home, I put it into my back pocket to put away but guess what? Yes, sh*t for brains here forgot to take the CD out of his pocket. I only noticed it last night when I took Mrs. 80smetalman out for dinner and went to pay. When I reached for the wallet, I also found the CD and when I took it out, it was broken beyond hope. Yep, I acknowledge it was stupid.
Here’s my question: Is there any way I could just get CD1? I don’t want to buy it again when the CD’s two and three are working fine. Besides, the album was a birthday present from my daughter five years ago, therefore, it has sentimental value. If not, some great songs like Dokken’s “Alone Again,” the famous “Beth” by KISS, “Silent Lucidity” from Queensryche will be lost. Plus, there are songs from Damn Yankees, Free and a rather predictable one from Foreigner.
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